Over the last several years, “throwback Thursday” has become quite popular. Although it is really supposed to be about nostalgia (like old photos), I thought I’d stretch the point, and occasionally post an old (but updated!) “how to” on Thursdays, for the benefit of the many new-device-users who have joined our blog. (or to refresh the memories for those of us who forget!)

Anyone who has done any typing on the iPhone or on the iPad has noticed the multiple steps needed to insert punctuation.

You have to tap the 123 button, tap your punctuation, and then tap the ABC button to return to the letter keyboard. That’s 3 taps!

Doesn’t ONE tap sound better?

Here’s how you can add punctuation with just ONE tap:

When you get to the moment that you need punctuation, put your finger on the 123 button and HOLD. Now, SLIDE your finger to the punctuation you need, and then, RELEASE.

Poof! Your punctuation has appeared in your text, and your keyboard has returned to the letters so you can continue typing.

As part of my month-long anniversary series, some posts will include information covered previously. Hopefully this way new readers get to see things they missed and older readers might be reminded of things they have forgotten. (This “forgetting” thing happens to me, too!)

When you type on your iPad or iPhone, and you need to insert punctuation, you have to TAP the 123 button, then TAP the selected punctuation, and then TAP the ABC button so that the keyboard will return to the alphabet.

That’s 3 taps for each time you need to punctuate. Whew. That’s a lot of tapping.

Here is how to accomplish inserting your punctuation with just ONE tap:

When you get to the moment that you need punctuation, place your finger on the 123 button and HOLD. Now, SLIDE your finger to the punctuation you need, and then RELEASE. Tap – Slide – Release

Poof!

Your punctuation appears in your text, and your keyboard returns to the alphabet so that you can continue typing.

Give it a try: Touch the 123 ….. keep your finger on the screen ….. slide to the punctuation you want…. and release. Cool, huh? 😎

As part of my month-long anniversary series, some posts will include information covered previously. Hopefully this way new readers get to see things they missed and older readers might be reminded of things they have forgotten. (This “forgetting” thing happens to me, too!)

Two of the earliest posts on this blog were quite simple but also quite helpful.

First, how to lock the caps key on the keyboard of your iPhone or iPad, so you don’t have to keep tapping it in order to type a series capital letters.

Although no one likes to read a “shout” (typing in all caps), sometimes it is necessary to type that way. And when you do, it is as simple as a double-tap.

To type in caps, just double tap the up-arrow. It will turn blue. When it is blue, any typing you do will be in caps. To return to regular-type, just tap it again.

Another handy hint that I often forget about (until I need it!) is how to find an umlaut or tildeor other little letter-symbols on your iPad or iPhone keyboard.

Here is how to find an umlaut et al:

Just tap and HOLD your finger on a letter. If there are surprises to be found, they will pop up and you can select them. Here is a screen shot as I held the “U”.

Try it yourself and see what you find. Not all letters harbor surprises, but many of them do.🙂

I won’t be able to post on this blog for a few days. New followers might find this a good opportunity to catch up with some earlier posts, especially if you are looking for “how to’s”.

I’m going to select a few that I think might be particularly helpful and add the links, but you can always find posts through the sidebar and/or the archives. There are many more “how to’s” in addition to the ones I am linking to, so if you are so inclined, just scroll through the back posts.

Are you a thumb typer? Many people type with their thumbs on their phones. But on the iPad?

Balancing the iPad while you type can be difficult. Holding it with one hand as you type with the other feels a bit unbalanced and the thought of dropping it is just too costly to even consider.

If you split the keyboard, you can hold the iPad securely, and, yes, type with your thumbs. This might not be your choice for all-the-time, and many people don’t like it at all, but for those who do, you might be interested in some HIDDEN keys beyond the split.

Before we find those hidden keys, let’s split your keyboard:

Bring up an email, or notepad or something else where the keyboard appears.

Look for the key with the picture of the keyboard on it that is next to the 123 button on the lower right side.

(If you tap on that button, the keyboard disappears. But we don’t want to make the keyboard disappear, we want to split it.)

To split the keyboard, touch and HOLD that button. You’ll see a little menu appear that gives you two options: undock and split.

Tap on “split” to split your keyboard. As soon as you tap on “split”, you will see the keyboard separate, and rise up into the lower middle area of the iPad screen. It will also get a bit smaller to fit your thumbs.

Now you can hold the iPad securely with two hands while you type.

Touch and hold the button again to merge the keyboard and re-dock at the bottom on your screen.

The HIDDEN keys are in the blank areas on either side of the keyboard. Just stretch your thumb out a little further beyond the ”t” and you can type a “y”. Tap the blank area next to the “v” and you’ll get a “b”.

This also works if you split the numbers keyboard. Tap the empty space next to the “5” and get a “6” and so on.

I’m not a thumb typer, so I can’t really judge the value of all this, but I think it’s always fun just to find a hidden feature, in this case, an “easter egg” in the keyboard : )